Apparatus for extracting turpentine from wood.



No. 808.035. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. J. G. GARDNER.

APPARATUS FOR EXTRAGTING TURPENT INE FROM WOOD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA G. GARDNER, OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR TO PURE WVHITETURPENTINE COMPANY, OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, A COR- PORATION OFFLORIDA.

APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING TURPENTINEFROIVI WOOD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Original application filed March 11, 1905, Serial No. 249.646. Dividedand this application filed April 12, 1905. Serial No. 255,160.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSHUA G. GARDNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at J acksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida,have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for ExtractingTurpentine from Wood, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for extracting turpentine fromwood, the apparatus being adapted especially to the treatment of woodwhen it is in a condition of sawdust or is ground up.

The apparatus is simple in construction and effective in operation, itserving to rapidly extract a large amount of turpentine as compared withapparatus heretofore in use. By the apparatus I do not destroy any ofthe valuable properties of the turpentine. Hence I am enabled to securea product which can be marketed for successful use in combination withpaints and varnishes.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification Iillustrate in sectional elevation an apparatus involving my invention;but I do not restrict myself to the illustration thus made, for certainVariations may be adopted within the scope of my claims succeeding thefollowing description, wherein I set forth in detail the structureillustrated in said drawing.

In the drawing I show a retort 2 and a bin 3 above the same, each in themain of cylindrical form. The retort and bin are connected toangle-brackets, as I, united rigidly in some desirable way to thevertical timbers 5, constituting a convenient framing for carrying theretort and bin.

The sawdust or ground-up wood is supplied in practice in some positivemanner to the bin 3, and for this purpose I have illustrated a conveyer,(denoted in a general way by 6,) the conveyer serving to deliver thematerial through the open top of the retort. After the extraction of theturpentine from the sawdust and after the latter has been removed fromthe retort 2 such sawdust can be utilized as fuel. The retort 2 has aswinging bottom, as 7, which during the extraction of the turpentinefromthe mass of sawdust in said retort is closed. The diameter of theswinging bottom is substantially the same as that of the retort,

so that when the door or bottom 7 is opened the contents of the retortcan be rapidly discharged therefrom. The contents are, in fact,discharged in bulk from the retort. The top of the retort has a neckprovided with a horizontally-swinging cover, as 8, which duringextraction is also closed, but which will be opened to charge the retortwith the sawdust or ground wood from the bin. The capacities of the binand retort are equal or substantially equal in order to add to theefiiciency of the apparatus, for while I am extracting the turpentinefrom a known quantity of sawdust in the retort I can be supplying to thebin a fresh mass of sawdust and discharge the fresh charge of sawdustinto the retort without waste. In the bottom of the bin I arrange avalve, the valve being denoted by 9 and being of the sliding type. Thevalve will of course be closed when the sawdust is being delivered intothe bin.

The retort has a false bottom 10 connected with the drop-down door.7,but spaced from the same. Themass in the retort is sustained directly bythe false bottom, the latter being of perforated or foraminous material,so as to provide for the passage of the vapor there through, which isladen with the turpentine, the vapor passing through a nipple or pipesection 11, connected centrally with the dropdown door 7. An attachableconnection (not illustrated) will in practice be united with the nippleor pipe section 11, the latter being shown as externally threaded forthe union.

I subject the sawdust mass in the retort while the process is beingcarried on to agitation and for this purpose employ several stirrers,(generally three.) Each stirrer is denoted in a. general way by 12 andconsists of a vertically-disposed shaft having paddles thereon, thepaddles being located at suitable intervals and being of such characterthat when each shaft has madeafull turn the mass in the bin will bethoroughly stirred or loosened up. The lower ends of the shafts of thestirrers are stepped in bearings located near the bottom or drop-downdoor of the retort. The upper portions of the shafts extend through thetop of the retort and carry wheels, which may be band-wheels,sprocket-wheels, or something of an equivalent nature, as 13, by whichthe said stirrers or agitators can be delivery end of the upper onebeing located near the receiving end of said bin, while the delivery endof the lower pipe is located near the discharge endof the said bin. Thesteam from the two pipesflowing into the bin thoroughly saturates thesawdust or ground wood in the retort, While the jet of steam from theupper pipe 16 so acts as to strike the dust as it drops into said bin,by reason of which the saturation of the sawdust in the bin is one thatcan be accomplished in a comparatively short space of time. When thesawdust is thoroughly saturated, this will be indicated by the odorthereof, at which point the steam is cut off from the pipes 16 andnaturally from the bin.

By the preliminary saturation I bring out the turpentine or soften orcook the wood, so that when the mass is delivered into the retort theextracting step is one that can be accomplished in a short space oftime. When the sawdust is thoroughly saturated, the top or cover 8 ofthe retort 2 is opened and the valve 9 opened wide, so as to permit thesaturated mass of sawdust or ground wood in the bin to dropbodily'therefrom and in a heated condition into the retort. By thearrangement of steam-pipingI heat and saturate every particle of dust asit enters the bin. After having admitted the saturated and heated massof dust into the retort 2 I open the valves in the several pipes 1 1 and15, the steam from the pipes passing through the mass ofpreviously-heated dust from the sides and frbm the top downward, thevapor laden with turpentine passing through the perforated false bottom10 and out through the outlet-pipe 11. When the mass in the retort 2 isthoroughly saturated, I cut ofl' the steam from the pipes 14, but permitthe steam to flow through the pipe 15 and entirely through the mass. Inorder that the steam admitted into the retort shall reach every part ofthe contents thereof, I utilize the stirrers 12, which while the steamis being admitted are in motion, so as to thoroughly agitate or loosenup the mass in order to permit the steam to strike every particlethereof. Should there be any tendency of the mass to arch, the stirrerswill break the arch. After the turpentine has been thoroughly extractedfrom the sawdust or ground wood in the retort I open the hinged bottomor drop-down door 7 and permit the entire corliitents of the retort tofall outat once or in bu Ordinarily I arrange within the bin 3 stirrersor agitators, (each designated in a general Way by 20,) which aresubstantially like the agitators 12, hereinbefore described in detail.The agitators 20, as .will be obvious, prevent arching of the ground-upmass in the bin, so as to assure the instantaneous discharge of said binwhen the valve of said bin is opened.

I desire to state at this point that I adopted the title for myinvention simply for convenience. I have described the apparatus asutilized for the extraction of turpentine from wood. I do not, however,restrict myself in this particular, for the apparatus can be employedfor extracting other volatile substances and by-products from ground-upwood. One of these volatile products is methyl alcohol.

By the invention I secure highly-volatile products, such as turpentineand alcohol, in a clean pure condition, ready for the market immediatelyafter leaving the apparatus or after the cessation of the process. Ihave found that the color of the by-products of wood is regulatedentirely by the temperature. When the heat of the steam is substantially212 Fahrenheit, only the water-color acidsturpentine and methylalcohol-come over. The Water-color products come over between 212 and225 Fahrenheit, and from 225 to 250 Fahrenheit they begin to get yellowand the pyroligneous acids come over. At 50 Fahrenheit more the gasescome oversuch, for example, as marsh-gas. At 50 Fahrenheit more thewood-oils come over. From 380 to 400 Fahrenheit all the by-productsleave the wood and are entirely black, such as pitch and tar.

The apparatus hereinbefore described has been set forth as including aretort, as 2, and

a bin, as 3, arranged over the retort. I prefer to use both of thesevessels or receptacles in practice, the bin being used to prepare thesawdust or ground-up wood in the best possible condition for thesubsequent extraction of the turpentine from said wood. The preliminarytreatment of and the extraction of turpentine from the Wood can bothtake place in a single vessel, such as the retort 2. This retort standsvertical, or substantially so,'and it has, as indicated, adrop-downdoor. When the door is swung open, as shown by dotted lines in thedrawing, the contents of the lower vessel or retort can be dischargedbodily or en masse, which is an important consideration. When the massin the vessel or retort 2 is subjected to steaming, I find that thesteam packs the sawdust, and I have found it a difficult matter withoutthe employment of the door to efiect the removal of the sawdust orground-up wood from said retort. By opening the door, however, I candischarge the contents of the retort or vessel, even should the chargetherein be several tons, in a trifle over one minute, whereby a greatsaving of time is assured.

Within the retort or vessel 2 I arrange, as indicatedhereinbefore,agitating means. The agitating means is of such a characterthat not only does it agitate the sawdust mass, but it upholds or actsas a rest for the same and prevents it solidifying, as in case it did itwould be adifficult matter to force steam therethrough. Really theagitating means presents a series of vertically-disposed rests,

which in the present instance consist of horizontally disposed bladesfor the material. When, however, the agitating-blades are set in motion,they form cavities in the mass in which the steam can enter, the steamfollowing up the agitating means, and thereby reaching every particle ofthe comminuted substance.

I find by experiment that I cannot obtain rapid work by forcing steamupwardly through the mass, but, on the contrary, I am enabled to securerapid extraction of turpentine from such mass by projecting the steamtherethrough in a downward direction. As a matter of fact, I have beenable to extract turpentine from wood in as low as half an hour.

The drop-down door when shut fits in an ai r-tight manner against thelower edge of the retort or lower vessel, and it has as a part thereof aperforated plate, strainer, or trap 10 upon which the sawdust mass isdirectly sustained. This perforated plate permits the steam laden withturpentine-vapors to pass freely therethrough and into the outlet 11 forconveyance to a condenser; but at the same time it prevents the passageof sawdust into said outlet 11. The drop-down bottom 7 is shown as beingof concavo-convex form or of dished disk shape, so as to present withinit an open steam-chamber, the surface of which is defined by the bottomand perforated plate.

I have shown several steam-pipes, as 14k and 15, leading into theretort, the pipe 15 leading into said retort through the top thereof,while the pipes 14: lead through the side of said retort and all ofthem, as will be clearly seen upon an inspection of the drawing, deliversteam in a downward direction or toward the bottom 7.

The method of extracting volatile substances from wood is not claimedherein, but forms the basis of another application, filed March 11,1905, Serial No. 249,6I6, of which the present application is adivision.

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. An apparatus ofthe class described involving a vertically-disposed vessel having adrop-down door provided with a perforated plate, the door and platebeing separated to provide a steam-chamber, the door having an outletfor vapors and the plate serving to sustain a mass of sawdust or groundwood in the retort, means for directing steam in a downward directionthrough the retort, and means in the vessel for positively opening uppaths for the steam.

2. An apparatus of the class described involving a vessel provided withan outlet for vapors and a perforated plate to support the sawdust orground-wood mass in the vessel, the plate serving to prevent the passageof the v sawdust or ground woodinto the outlet, means for directingsteam downwardly through the mass and through said plate into theoutlet, and means in the vessel for opening up paths for the steam.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSHUA G. GARDNER.

Witnesses:

CHAS. H. SMITH, RoY L. BI SHOP.

